Income and wealth equity

Just yesterday, Ray Dalio, founder of one of the biggest hedge funds, Bridgewater Associates, was on CNBC and got into a heated debate about capitalism with CNBC host Joe Kernen. Even though Ray Dalio is a billionaire, he argues that capitalism “is producing a terrible split in our country.” While Ray Dalio is not necessarily part of the problem, he argues that there is a widening gap between the 0.1% and the below the lower income.

Just recently the Feds took down doctors and medical equipment companies that were involved in a Medicare fraud. These companies schemed $1 billion out of patients by giving them back, neck, and knee braces that patients did not need. The companies and doctors targeted the elderly and disabled. Doctors were paid to prescribe them products that they did not necessarily need. Unfortunately, by prescribing the products, it made the patients ineligible of receiving further things that they might need.

I did a lot of research on affordable and subsidized housing for my proposal and, during my research, I found this interesting article about new affordable housing developments in Detroit. The city announced plans about a year ago to spend $250 million to maintain 10,000 units and create 2,000 new units. The funding came from multiple different areas: $50 million in grants, $150 million in low-interest loans, and $50 million in public funds.

I recently stumbled upon this article. Do you think young adults leaving Michigan to go pursue higher-paying jobs is a valid argument for the economy dropping between 2008-2012? Or was this simply because of the 2009 crash that left a plethora of economies in the tank? How do you think this topic impacts Michigan as a whole today? Do you agree with this article?

I just came across an extremely interesting article that is extremely relevant to our affordable housing crisis today, and funny enough, has to do with our very own Stephen Ross and his real estate business, Related Companies. This article discusses his plan of Hudson Yards which is a multimillion dollar project that will establish modern office space and a long-sought extension of the central business district to the West Side. It is also creating a residential neighborhood, making it a prototype of the mixed-use district that today's urban planners champion.

Zachary Ackerman, a Democratic representative of Ann Arbor's 3rd ward, is working hard to put forward proposals to build more affordable housing in downtown Ann Arbor. His proposals suggest that the municipal government sell some of its property to generate revenue to build affordable housing units. The city's goal is to build about 140 affordable units every year to eventually have 2,800 new affordable housing units by 2035.

I just read an interesting article that bank regulators are looking back into limiting Wall Street. With a lot of people attracted to the high pay of Wall Street, I am curious to see how this affects students decisions to enter Wall Street. What do you guys think? Additionally, the potential limit of Wall Street pay by regulators is due to securities employees receiving bonuses for making risky decisions. However, when their decisions turn bad, they pile up a ton of losses and some still come away with hefty bonuses. Do you think this is ethical?

Now that we have arrived at spring break, lots of students will be taking exotic trips. Quite literally, Michigan students will hit every corner of the planet over this spring break. At times, it seems like the social norm is to go on a trip every year. Meanwhile, we can clearly see economic disparity here in Ann Arbor. We have listened to programs at Town Hall meetings of non-profits that work with young children and families to improve their quality of life through a plethora of ways (academics, food, neighborhoods, social skills, etc).

Just yesterday, Ray Dalio, founder of one of the biggest hedge funds, Bridgewater Associates, was on CNBC and got into a heated debate about capitalism with CNBC host Joe Kernen. Even though Ray Dalio is a billionaire, he argues that capitalism “is producing a terrible split in our country.” While Ray Dalio is not necessarily part of the problem, he argues that there is a widening gap between the 0.1% and the below the lower income.

Just recently the Feds took down doctors and medical equipment companies that were involved in a Medicare fraud. These companies schemed $1 billion out of patients by giving them back, neck, and knee braces that patients did not need. The companies and doctors targeted the elderly and disabled. Doctors were paid to prescribe them products that they did not necessarily need. Unfortunately, by prescribing the products, it made the patients ineligible of receiving further things that they might need.

I did a lot of research on affordable and subsidized housing for my proposal and, during my research, I found this interesting article about new affordable housing developments in Detroit. The city announced plans about a year ago to spend $250 million to maintain 10,000 units and create 2,000 new units. The funding came from multiple different areas: $50 million in grants, $150 million in low-interest loans, and $50 million in public funds.

I recently stumbled upon this article. Do you think young adults leaving Michigan to go pursue higher-paying jobs is a valid argument for the economy dropping between 2008-2012? Or was this simply because of the 2009 crash that left a plethora of economies in the tank? How do you think this topic impacts Michigan as a whole today? Do you agree with this article?

I just came across an extremely interesting article that is extremely relevant to our affordable housing crisis today, and funny enough, has to do with our very own Stephen Ross and his real estate business, Related Companies. This article discusses his plan of Hudson Yards which is a multimillion dollar project that will establish modern office space and a long-sought extension of the central business district to the West Side. It is also creating a residential neighborhood, making it a prototype of the mixed-use district that today's urban planners champion.

Zachary Ackerman, a Democratic representative of Ann Arbor's 3rd ward, is working hard to put forward proposals to build more affordable housing in downtown Ann Arbor. His proposals suggest that the municipal government sell some of its property to generate revenue to build affordable housing units. The city's goal is to build about 140 affordable units every year to eventually have 2,800 new affordable housing units by 2035.

I just read an interesting article that bank regulators are looking back into limiting Wall Street. With a lot of people attracted to the high pay of Wall Street, I am curious to see how this affects students decisions to enter Wall Street. What do you guys think? Additionally, the potential limit of Wall Street pay by regulators is due to securities employees receiving bonuses for making risky decisions. However, when their decisions turn bad, they pile up a ton of losses and some still come away with hefty bonuses. Do you think this is ethical?

Now that we have arrived at spring break, lots of students will be taking exotic trips. Quite literally, Michigan students will hit every corner of the planet over this spring break. At times, it seems like the social norm is to go on a trip every year. Meanwhile, we can clearly see economic disparity here in Ann Arbor. We have listened to programs at Town Hall meetings of non-profits that work with young children and families to improve their quality of life through a plethora of ways (academics, food, neighborhoods, social skills, etc).

A new 4.5-billion-dollar assembly plant located in Detroit will be built by Fiat Chrysler. Additionally, Fiat Chrysler will be increasing the production of their five existing facilities in Michigan. This new assembly plant is projected to create about 6,500 jobs to Michigan. The plant will hopefully be up and running by the end of 2020. How do you think these additional jobs will help the state of Michigan? Will the effects be readily noticed? Before agreeing to the terms of a memorandum of understanding, is there anything else the city of Detroit should negotiate?